Before anyone else could speak, Su Tao pointed frantically at Su Qing. "Su Qing! Make Su Qing marry that fool! I'm not going to! I'll die before I go!"
Hearing Su Tao call Shitou a fool, Shi's mother shot her a vicious glare. "You dare call my Shitou that again? Try me, you little hussy. Shameless thing, crawling into a man's bed in the middle of the night. You think you're some kind of prize?"
At this thought, Shi's mother felt that her family was getting completely ripped off by paying the Old Su Family a bride price of two hundred and sixty yuan for this.
Shi's mother's ferocity made Su Tao shrink further under the covers, not daring to make a sound. Her face flushed crimson with humiliation. She glared at Su Qing, who was hiding in Aunt Tao's arms outside the doorway, and a vicious glint flashed in her eyes.
'This was all Su Qing's fault. Everything. As long as Su Qing was around, she would be ruined, with no chance to recover. Sooner or later, she would make Su Qing pay.'
Su Qing said nothing, only hiding in Aunt Tao's arms and letting her tears fall silently. 'People always sympathize with the weak. The more helpless I appear right now, the more support I'll get.'
"How about this girl, then?" Shi's mother said, then hesitated. She felt Su Qing would be a bit of a raw deal for her Shitou. Su Tao, by comparison, was much prettier. "Besides," she declared, "that girl has already slept in the same bed as my Shitou."
"No, I didn't!" Su Tao shrieked in terror. "I was set up! That damn girl Su Qing set me up!"
Tian Aixiang grew anxious, too. 'I was still hoping she'd find a husband from the county,' she thought. 'My future of living the good life depends on this daughter! If she marries that fool from the Sun family, what's in it for me?'
'Never mind the bride price. With my mother-in-law around, I wouldn't see a single cent of it.'
"That's right! My daughter was set up! Yes, by that damn girl Su Qing!" Tian Aixiang chimed in hastily. "If you want a wife for your Shitou, take that girl Su Qing away. As for my Su Tao, don't even think about it."
Old Woman Su shot Tian Aixiang a fierce glare. 'There are still outsiders here, yet she's brazenly offering to send that damn girl Su Qing away. If these gossips spread the word, the Old Su Family can kiss its reputation in the village goodbye.'
"As you can all see," Old Man Su said, turning to Aunt Cuihua and the others, "this has all been a big misunderstanding. Our family needs to handle this matter internally. Since it's a private affair, it's not convenient for you all to stay. Please, come back another day."
Su Qing secretly bit the inside of her cheek. The sharp pain made tears instantly stream down her face, and she shuddered violently. "Grandma, I don't want to be sold to a fool! My mom officially separated from the main family household years ago! You can't sell me! I heard you yesterday—you were planning to sell me to that fool!"
This made Aunt Cuihua and the other women even more furious. 'So the Old Su Family really is trying to sell Su Qing!'
"You damn girl, what nonsense are you spouting?" Seeing Su Qing expose everything, Old Woman Su was so enraged she shot her a venomous glare. "Get back in your room! This is family business, not for you to be running your mouth about!"
Su Qing trembled even more violently.
Aunt Tao felt Su Qing's fear, and her heart ached for the girl even more. "Aunt Su," she said, "this isn't just your family's business anymore. You're about to sell your own granddaughter! I think we need to get the village head and the party secretary involved. Otherwise, who knows where you'll secretly sell poor Su Qing off to next."
'Hmph. This morning they saw Su Qing tied up and locked in her room. They were probably trying to force her and that fool together. I just don't know how that fool ended up in Su Tao's room instead.'
'But that wasn't important. What was important was that the Old Su Family was really trying to sell Su Qing!'
"That's right, we need to get the village head and the party secretary," one of the women nodded. "I'll go."
She was closest to the gate, so before anyone from the Su Family could stop her, she turned and bolted out of the courtyard.
This sent Old Woman Su into a panic. "Come back! You get back here! Why are you dragging the village head into our family's private business?"
But it was no use. The woman had already disappeared out of the Old Su Family's courtyard.
The Su Family was instantly livid. Once the village head and party secretary arrived, the situation was bound to blow up. And who knew what other trouble that would stir up.
Furious, Old Man Su rapped his long-stemmed pipe hard against the wall and glared at Su Qing. "You just had to stir things up until the whole family is in chaos, didn't you?"
'Su Qing scoffed inwardly. These people from the Old Su Family were the pinnacle of shamelessness. They had seized her original self's property, enslaved her for six long years, and were now trying to squeeze out her last bit of value by trading her for a bride price. And now they had the audacity to blame *her* for making trouble.'
Su Qing continued to play the part of the pitiful victim, letting her tears fall in streams. It made Aunt Cuihua and the other women's hearts absolutely ache for her.
"Uncle Su, that's not right," Aunt Cuihua retorted. "What do you mean, Su Qing is stirring things up? Did Su Qing tie herself up in that room? Was it Su Qing who was fooling around with a man in the middle of the night? Or was it Su Qing who tried to sell herself to a fool? You've bullied this girl for so many years—look what you've ground her down into! I'm telling you, as elders, even if you're going to be biased, there should be a limit! Back when Sheng Jun was alive, he never mistreated you two. You should search your own hearts and see if you have any conscience left!"
Old Woman Su was so enraged by this speech she nearly fell over backward. "Go! All of you, go! You're not welcome here!" she shrieked, trying to drive them out.
"Aunt Su, you don't get to decide this time," another woman said. "The moment we leave, this girl Su Qing will be sold off by your family. In all these years, Lihua Village has never had a family sell their own daughter or granddaughter. We can't let the Old Su Family ruin our village's reputation!"
"You…" Seeing that Aunt Cuihua and her group wouldn't leave, while Shi's mother was still clamoring to take a daughter-in-law, both Old Man Su and Old Woman Su felt a rage that burned in their chests. They couldn't fathom how their perfectly smooth plan had gone so terribly wrong. Now look, they were being criticized from all sides, made out to be villains in their own home.
As the standoff continued, Zhao Youcai, the Lihua Village head, and Wang Xuehong, the village party secretary, arrived at the gate of the Su Family's courtyard. A crowd of many other Lihua Village residents followed close behind.
The woman who had gone to fetch Zhao Youcai and Wang Xuehong was quite the character. On her way from the Su residence to the village committee office, she had told the story to everyone she passed. As a result, by the time she returned with the two officials, the entire crowd of villagers trailing behind them already knew the whole story: the Old Su Family was trying to sell Su Qing to a fool, but that same fool had somehow ended up in bed with Su Tao in the middle of the night.
This was the juiciest gossip of the year!